Beowulf

This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. For the person Beowulf, see Beowulf (hero). For other uses, see Beowulf (disambiguation).

Background and origins

The poem is a work of fiction, but it mentions in passing some people and events that were probably real, dating from between CE 450 to 600 in Denmark and southern Sweden (Geats and Swedes). Like The Fight at Finnsburg and several shorter surviving poems, Beowulf has been used as a source of information about Scandinavian personalities such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic personalities such as Offa, king of the continental Angles; though given the uncertainties about the poem's dating and provenance, its value as an historical source is highly questionable. Many have pointed out that Beowulf relates the same or similar events and personalities as the Hrólf Kraki tales (see Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki). This explanation reads the hero's name Beowulf as bee-wolf, a kenning for "bear" (due to their love of honey), and therefore links him to Bödvar Bjarki (Battle Bear) who somewhat corresponds to Beowulf in Scandinavian sources.

The poem is known only from a single manuscript. The spellings in the surviving copy of the poem mix the West Saxon and Anglian dialects of Old English, though they are predominantly West Saxon, as are other Old English poems copied at the time. The earliest known owner is the 16th century scholar Lawrence Nowell, after whom the MS is known, though its official designation is Cotton Vitellius A.XV due to its inclusion in the catalog of Robert Bruce Cotton's holdings in the middle of the 17th century. It suffered irreversible damage in the Cotton Library fire at the ominously-named Ashburnham House in 1731.

Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin made the first transcription of the manuscript in 1818, working under a historical research commission by the Danish government. Since that time, the manuscript has suffered additional decay, and the Thorkelin transcripts remain a prized secondary source for Beowulf scholars. Their accuracy has been called into question, however (e.g. by Chauncey Brewster Tinker in The Translations of Beowulf, a comprehensive survey of 19th century translations and editions of Beowulf), and the extent to which the MS was actually more readable in Thorkelin's time is unclear.

Storyline and translations

This society is also strongly defined in terms of kinship; if a relative is killed then it is the duty of surviving relatives to exact revenge upon his killer: this could be either with his own life or with weregild, a reparational payment. Moreover, this is a world governed by fate and destiny. The belief that fate controls him is a central factor in all of Beowulf's actions which occur in the poem.

The poem as we have it appears to be a retelling of older tales for a Christian audience. In historical terms the poem's characters would have been pagans, but the narrator places events in a thoroughly Christian context, casting Grendel as the kin of Cain, and placing Christian sentiments in his characters' mouths. Scholars disagree whether Beowulf's main thematic thrust is pagan or Christian in nature.

There have been many translations of this poem in many styles. Irish poet Seamus Heaney produced a well-known verse translation. Another good verse translation is that of Howell D. Chickering. Chickering's translation sticks close to the text, but lacks some of the beauty of Heaney's.

Another excellent translation is the one by E. Talbot Donaldson for Norton & Company of New York. This translation, more so than Heaney's, is good for serious readers who want a more accurate translation. Although some may balk at the denser prose style, students of the epic will appreciate the sparse, vivid imagery and numerous kennings.
Frederick Rebsamen's verse translation is with alliterations and inventive compound words. Unfortunately, Rebsamen's translation includes extreme deviations from the meaning of the Old English text.

J. R. R. Tolkien noted the translation by J. J. Earle as particularly bad.

Influence on modern writers

The Beowulf story was retold from the monster's point of view by John Gardner in his novel Grendel.

The Beowulf story, in combination with the tenth-century Arabic narrative of Aḩmad ibn Faḑlān, was used as basis for Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead. The novel itself was adapted for the film The 13th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas as Ibn Faḑlān and Vladimir Kulich as Buliwyf (Beowulf).

The Heorot series of science-fiction novels, by Steven Barnes, Jerry Pournelle, and Larry Niven, is named after the stronghold of King Hrothgar, and partly parallels Beowulf.

Excerpt

After each line is translation to modern English. A freely available translation of the poem, now out of copyright, is that of Francis Gummere. It can be had at Project Gutenberg [1].

External links